Heritage Financial Services LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Heritage Financial Services LLC has increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 62.4%, bringing its total holdings to 898 shares valued at approximately $518,000.
• A range of institutional investors, including Carmignac Gestion and Greenwoods Asset Management, have also raised their positions in Meta Platforms, indicating heightened investor interest in the company.
• According to recent analyst reports, Meta Platforms has received several price upgrades, with target prices now reaching as high as $900, reflecting strong market confidence in the stock's performance.

Heritage Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 62.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 898 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the quarter. Heritage Financial Services LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carmignac Gestion raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the first quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 152,865 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $88,105,000 after purchasing an additional 3,387 shares during the period. ZEGA Investments LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.6% in the first quarter. ZEGA Investments LLC now owns 5,349 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 10.3% in the first quarter. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. now owns 969,277 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $558,652,000 after purchasing an additional 90,313 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in Meta Platforms by 19.8% in the first quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 192,614 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,088,000 after purchasing an additional 31,897 shares during the period. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 655,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $377,766,000 after buying an additional 46,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $747.72 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $727.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $657.05. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $400,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,128 shares in the company, valued at $10,174,200. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $402,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,533,150. This trade represents a 1.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.

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